By C.S.E. Cooney This is a complete work of fiction presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of C.S.E. Cooney and New Epoch Press, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 by New Epoch Press. Part One: Lector I was eight when I met Jaks. He was running away from home and I was trying to catch a fish in one of Viceroy Eriphit’s reeking public ponds. “Um, excuse…
Return to Chapter V Chapter VI: The Awakening Seth had thought that he could follow the trail of destruction back to the entrance, but he’d somehow missed it. Not the destruction, as the dead bodies and damaged corridors were everywhere, but the hallway leading to the way they’d come in. In the meantime, he’d lost the other guardsmen. He had paused to look back, expecting Aulus or one of the other Domini to be following, and waited just long enough…
By Donald S. Crankshaw This is a complete work of fiction presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of Donald S. Crankshaw and New Epoch Press, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 by New Epoch Press. Return to Chapter IV Chapter V: The Assault Nathan’s eyes were filled with a darkness that crept into his mind, dampening thought and feeling. He was weightless, formless, empty. He would have…
By Dave Gross This is an excerpt from the upcoming Pathfinder Tales novel Queen of Thorns by Dave Gross, presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of Paizo Publishing and Dave Gross, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 by Paizo Publishing, LLC. Chapter One: The Midsummer Masquerade Varian The slap lifted Radovan off his feet and knocked the mask from his face. He crashed through a table, scattering…
Return to Chapter III Chapter IV: The Necromancers A faint whiff of something acrid made Seth’s nose twitch. He followed behind the two Domini, holding his longsword close to his body so as not to cut the two men in front of him. His weapon had a long blade and an extended hilt designed to accommodate two hands. But what good would a sword do against magic? Though he did not trust the Domini’s power, their reluctance to use it…
By Donald S. Crankshaw This is a complete work of fiction presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of Donald S. Crankshaw and New Epoch Press, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 by New Epoch Press. Return to Chapter II Chapter III: A Reluctant Alliance Seth felt his stomach sink when he saw them coming. He had figured it out even as he was trying to tell Captain…
I spoke to some creative writing students at a local university last Friday and I tried to tell them something it took me a long time to understand: when you begin your writing career, you’re joining a community. By writing career, I mean your first published work. In my case, I was first printed in a ‘zine titled Gauntlet. Before I submitted my story to the magazine, about the only thing I knew about Gauntlet was that it was open…
Return to Chapter I Chapter II: The Investigation The next morning, Aulus and Nathan entered the serf village dressed like the local citizenry of Quian. They both wore clothing typical for the lower class of artisans and merchants who made up the bulk of the city’s residents: close-fitting trousers and long doublets in subdued colors, Aulus in a deep blue and Nathan in dull green. Neither wore a coat in the warm sunlight of late spring. They had decided that…
By Donald S. Crankshaw This is a complete work of fiction presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of Donald S. Crankshaw and New Epoch Press, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 by New Epoch Press. Chapter I: The Murder Quian’s serf village spilled out of the city’s grim walls like rotten apples from an overturned basket. The city gate, an iron-bound door barely wide enough to accommodate…
By Aaron Bradford Starr This is a complete work of fiction presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of Aaron Bradford Starr and New Epoch Press, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 by New Epoch Press. Art by Aaron Bradford Starr In the days before my increasing fame made travel abroad difficult, I was seldom seen in one locale for more than a handful of days at a…